Hello fellow Hivers!
It’s been a while since I’ve posted – I’ve had the best of intentions but time just ran away from me. I decided to get back into the habit of sharing some of my day-to-day interests and not worrying too much about waiting for the perfect time and the perfect topic to write about. (Thanks 
So with this in mind, a topic literally came flying towards me! Well, not really, but they came flying to my house and decided to move into my roof.
I live about halfway between Stellenbosch and Kuilsrivier, and in recent years the area has been home to an invasive wasp called the European Paper Wasp. They made the local news about a year ago. From the article: “Last week, the City of Cape Town sent out a plea to residents to report sightings of these yellow-and-black insects, stating that, over the past few months, the City had been battling with an invasion of these wasps.” Journalists spoke to two experts, Dr Ruan Veldtman and Dr Derek Daly to find out more. Apparently the European Paper Wasp was first reported in Kuilsrivier in 2008. They love hot, dry summers and rainy winters, so it’s no wonder they’ve made this area their new home. (Read the article here).
Imagine my relief when, at the end of the article, I see that the City of Cape Town is serious about documenting and preventing the spread of these invasive wasps and that there’s a contact number for them to come and remove the insects. I phone, it rings for ages. Eventually someone answers and tells me no, they don’t offer that service anymore. I should try spraying them with a can of insect spray. Which, needless to say, I didn’t do because I certainly value not being stung by a group of angry flying insects!
Photo 1. Close-up of Polistes dominula, “dominula” = “little mistress”
Credit: By Garnhami, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95093868
Photo 2. Own photo. Not the best photo because I’m not brave enough to get any closer
Part 2 to follow!